


The Case of the Hijacked Jewels

by John_Watson



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Case, M/M, Molly is mentioned, london zoo, missing jewels, missing monkey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 07:37:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Watson/pseuds/John_Watson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A seemingly interesting case comes to my blog, we look into it. Turns out, monkeys can't really disappear into thin air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Case of the Hijacked Jewels

It's been a while since Sherlock and I investigated a case dealing with an animal, the last one being the fictional Hound of Baskervilles, so when I got a message from the director of the London zoo concerning a missing monkey, I was intrigued from the start. It took a lot to get Sherlock interested, but what caught his interest was the small snippet of CCTV footage where the ape was eating, then the very next moment it was gone, as if vanishing into thin air.

We made an appointment to meet with the director the next afternoon. Sherlock wanted to get into the exhibit and have a look around, but unfortunately we needed permission and to talk with the monkey handler. Just as we exited the office to head towards the exhibit, a woman burst into the office, livid. She stopped us in our tracks. I saw Sherlock's eyes narrow as he began to deduce her. He was opening his mouth to feed her her life story so I gently elbowed him. He shot me a glare, but stepped back to let the woman talk with the director.

It was obvious from the way the director looked at her that he'd dealt with her before. The man let out a long suffering sigh.

"Mrs. Avery, I've told you countless times that if we hear anything or something turn up, we'll call you. It's been two days, there's still a lot for us to look through for your jewelry," this statement caught Sherlock's attention. I felt him perk up next to me. I tipped my head back to look up at him. There was a gleam in his eyes; one I learned didn't always bode well for everyone in the room. I gently nudged him to get him moving again, hoping he'd keep his mouth shut before creating some sort of havoc with the already highly distressed woman, that is until she finally noticed us. Fantastic.

Mrs. Avery turned her gaze towards us, it was frightening. Any woman that angry was frightening, but Sherlock squared his shoulders, the left side of his mouth curling up as he saw recognition in her gaze. The woman looked between the three of us before grinning.

"Sorry to bother you Mr. Harkens, you should have told me you had Sherlock Holmes on the case," she stepped a little closer to Sherlock.

Sherlock narrowed his gaze at her, "I'm not here for you and your husband's expensive jewels. I'm here for a monkey," and with that he, rather dramatically, swept past the woman. I shook my head, chuckling before following behind him.

We started walking towards the primate exhibit, Sherlock flouncing all over the place to gather clues and evidence that he might be able to use in the case of the disappeared monkey. I took in the sights, not having been to the zoo in ages, I was enthralled with all the sounds and sights. I wondered if we could come back some time, maybe during the summer, for a proper visit.

Soon enough we reached the primate exhibit. Sherlock bypassed the small groups of people gathered around watching the monkeys. We headed towards the main building where their trainer and handler for the time being, Eric Way, could be found. As we approached, he greeted us at the door. He was quite pleased to see us, and spent a good two minutes expressing his thanks. Sherlock resolutely ignored him as he headed towards the entrance of the exhibit. He was about to let himself in before Eric noticed and rushed to stop him.

Sherlock glared at the man before stepping back and letting him lead us in. It was odd entering the caged area. The sound of the monkeys calling out was louder as we entered. The missing ape was a chimpanzee named Bella. Eric went on to tell us that she was one of the older in the group. He'd been working with them for a few months now, and Bella had grown to be his favourite. Eric seemed to be devastated by her disappearance, but Sherlock merely scoffed at his whining.

Sherlock looked around the caged area, crouching, touching, observing, and peering around in order to gather what it was only he could see. He stood up, glancing up to where the observers stood looking down. He peered at them before turning back to us. He had that self-confident smirk on his face, telling me he'd all but solved it.

"The case is not as interesting as it once was John, let's finish this up and see if Molly has any treats for me," he stated, sweeping right past Eric and me. We hastened to follow him back into the other building. Sherlock stood over the CCTV monitors that looked into an around the primate area. He looked over at Eric, "Show me the footage of Bella again," he demanded.

Eric jumped, moving to find the footage that Sherlock needed. He played it, and again I mystified by the disappearing of Bella. Sherlock had Eric go through six times before straightening, that gleam in his eye. He turned his cool gaze to Eric, "I've solved it Mr. Way. Care to get Mr. Harkens and Mrs. Avery over here please. I think they ought to hear my conclusion."

I had no clue what Sherlock needed them for, but Eric hastened to call the director and Mrs. Avery, if she was still with him, down to his office. He set his radio down, his fingers fidgeting nervously around each other while he waited for the others. Sherlock kept his cool gaze on the man, watching him flounder about until the others joined us. Sherlock swept his gaze to Mr. Harkens and then Mrs. Avery.

"I've solved two crimes Mr. Harkens. I know where your ape is and I know what happened to your rather ridiculously gaudy, but highly expensive necklace Mrs. Avery. Your monkey didn't just vanish. The CCTV footage was tampered with. There is a very slight break in the footage between us seeing her and her being gone. You must look at the footage very closely in order to see it, but when you know how to observe, and have knowledge of film, well, then it's rather obvious. Your faithful employee Mr. Way here has her. He snuck her out of the exhibit the other night. He was reviewing CCTV footage, as were all other zoo employees in regards to Mrs. Avery's missing jewelry. He caught Bella ingesting the necklace. Apes are rather attracted to shiny objects. He had formed a bond with Bella, so it was rather easy for him to get her out of the cage. If you look closely, there are indents from the food cart in the mud of the exhibit. Sure there are many tracks, but there are two sets which go deeper into the mud than the others, that's because they bared the extra weight of Bella who was hiding beneath a cloth on the cart. Mr. Way here figured he'd get a good payday when Bella excreted the necklace. Send someone to his flat, you'll find both missing objects there. Good day," Sherlock flashed a quick, empty smile before leaving everyone behind, stunned.

I apologised quickly to everyone there as they gaped at what Sherlock had just said. I hastened to follow after the git, and as I stepped out of the building I heard an explosion of voices. I finally caught up to Sherlock.

"That could have gone better," I muttered, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket.

Sherlock humphed, turning away to head back towards the entrance, "No more cases involving animals John, I've had enough. Come along now, Molly just got an interesting body. I have a few experiments I want to carry out."


End file.
